Chad's Crooked House

Chronicling my adventures restoring and updating a quirky old Philadelphia rowhouse

Tracks of My Tears

The start of the weekend was ordinary. I decided that yes, I do like that green in the bedroom. The photos I took at night show the color better even though the room looks better now. Even my dad, who is not a green person, likes it now. (Actually he had told me to ignore…
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Real Paint Begins: Flirting with Buyer’s Remorse

My dad came down and helped me bang out some painting yesterday and today. We did the bathroom, all 4 closets, and the ceilings in the upstairs hall and back bedroom. Both colors I got in the back bedroom were MUCH darker than I was expecting. I don’t know if that photo shows the colors.…
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Aside from painting, 3 steps forward, 1 step back.

Finding other things to do last Saturday so I could wait for the paint sale wasn’t much of a problem. One annoying job that’s been looming over me for a while was that grout haze gunking up my bathroom floor. About a year ago. I hired people to tile my bathroom floor. They effed up,…
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March Makeover Madness

I was a little bit of a load the weekend before last, so I’m not as far along as I’d want to be. But that’s ok because now Sherwin Williams is having a March Makeover Madness sale. Someone needs to talk to them about these names. I think I’ve chosen my paint, but have to…
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Let’s talk about paint colors – downstairs

You already saw ideas I have about paint colors upstairs and how I plan on painting the trim throughout the house. Downstairs I have 3 more spaces to figure out what to do with. But first I wanted to clarify the color of the marble in the front bedroom. It’s more brown than pink. This…
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Let’s talk about paint colors – starting upstairs

All of them! The truth is, I have little idea of what I want. I could stick with white walls. Sometimes that looks great. But I kind of don’t want my house to look like it was rehabbed on spec. I think I want a slightly subdued off white on my ceilings and trim. Not quite the bright…
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Primer Progress

People told me it would take 3 or 4 hours to roll primer onto every wall in the house with the electric roller. People lied. I was at it about that long last Saturday but got fed up and decided to pack things up and finish the next day. And then… I RAN OUT OF…
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The plan for Year 3? Finishing Phase 1!

I’ve decided that this round of heavy-handed repairs that took over the whole house should be called Phase 1. Phase 2 will be a bunch of smaller projects that can be done independently of each other… after I take a good long break. Anyways, if I want to make this sound fast and easy, I…
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Looking back over year 2

Yes, it’s already over. If you remember, I ended year 1 with the house torn apart. Most of the functional things were in, but most of the visible things that make the house look good were not. I wrote 3 posts last year to commemorate the paper anniversary. This year the anniversary should be cotton, but…
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Rounding up paint options for Operation Spray Booth

I said last time that I need a good, durable paint for my radiators, and also for a half dozen pieces of furniture, most of which my dad sprayed about 30 years ago. You can see that although it was a great paint job, it’s ready for a redo. (Also, you’re welcome, Mom, that I…
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